Karate Kid: Legends

The film brings back the hits of the franchise possibly to revive it, but it only brings back some novelty with nostalgia of the 2000s filmmaking similar to Step Up series but with more fighting. Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, the sixth instalment in the franchise has Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio, reprising their roles, while introducing Ben Wang as the main lead alongside Joshua Jackson, Sadie Stanley, and Ming-Na Wen. With a short run time, the film stays focused on the action sequences, but fails to evoke any emotional connection with the characters like the previous films did. It begins with Ben Wang’s Li Fong’s mother announcing that she is moving to New York, after the death of her old son and Li has to come along with her. Li’s brother’s death left the family broken and now, Li isn’t allowed to fight either. His mother’s one rule is ‘No Violence’ and he breaks it the first day back at school. Li makes friend’s with one of the girls who lives in his area and also goes to his new school. She and her father runs the Pizza place, but they also have a connection to fighting. To save their shop Mia’s father decides to enter a street fight competition with a massive winning prize, but after watching Li fight, he wants Li to help him win.

The sixth film in the martial arts franchise that debuted in 1984, Karate Kid: Legends flings open the dojo doors to deliver chops, blocks, and kicks in a nostalgic throwback for fans of the Karate Kid movies. This latest entry, a legacy sequel, deftly combines former franchise stars, elements from the last five films, and updated threads from the Cobra Kai television series, while introducing a new Chinese lead in a familiar underdog-turned-hero arc. But the tropes remain the same. The underdog journey of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) in 1984’s The Karate Kid—waxing on and off under Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita)—is mirrored in a contemporary New York setting, where Chinese student Li Fong must navigate a new world. The franchise has always been about mentorship, honour, and a game-changing final kick—even in the 2010 reboot with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, which leaned more into kung fu. Cobra Kai flipped the script, featuring Macchio as LaRusso and giving Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) a redemptive arc.

बात करीब 40 साल पहले 1984 की है, जब कुंग फू-कराटे पर आधारित मार्शल आर्ट ड्रामा ‘द कराटे किड’ आई थी। देखते ही देखते यह दुनिया की ऐसी चहेती फ्रेंचाइज बन गई कि 1986, 1989 और 1994 में इसके तीन सीक्वल आए। फिर 2010 में जैकी चैन को मुख्य भूमिका में लेकर इसे रीबूट किया गया, तो टीवी सीरीज ‘कोबरा काई’ भी बनी। वहीं, अब इसकी छठी पेशकश ‘कराटे किड: लेजेंड्स’ सिनेमाघरों में पहुंची है। जाहिर है, ऐसी कामयाब फ्रेंचाइजी से ऊंची उम्मीदें होना स्वाभाविक है, मगर अफसोस कि देखे-दिखाए फॉर्मूले के चलते यह फिल्म अपने टाइटल की तरह ‘लेजेंड’ बनने से काफी दूर रह गई है। जोनाथन एंथविसल के डायरेक्‍शन में बनी इस‍ फिल्‍म की कहानी है, बीजिंग के एक युवा ली फोंग (बेन वांग) की। ली, मिस्टर हान (जैकी चैन) के कुंग-फू स्कूल का स्टार स्टूडेंट है, लेकिन उसकी डॉक्टर मां नहीं चाहती कि ली मार्शल आर्ट से कोई रिश्ता रखे। असल में, एक फाइट में वह अपने कुंग-फू चैंपियन बड़े बेटे को खो चुकी है, इसलिए ली को इससे दूर रखने के लिए न्यूयॉर्क में नई जिंदगी शुरू करती है।

The last few years have been spent watching the downfall of mainstream Hindi cinema. I’ve reviewed so many atrocious Bollywood movies that I often sound like a bitter Indian dad citing the example of the exemplary “Sharma-ji Ka Beta” when I write about a foreign film. I can’t help but compare — and wave my finger disapprovingly at my litter. But once in a while, an absolutely horrid Hollywood movie like Karate Kid: Legends arrives (last year it was Madame Web), and all feels right with the world. The mediocrity is almost soothing because, as an Indian cinephile, it doesn’t feel so lonely anymore. They can be just as bad as us; it feels so nice to say that. We’re all in this together: divided by borders but united by bad cinema.